1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of bar advertisement, supplies, and related collectibles. More specifically, the invention relates to a bar tap handle that is illuminated so as to market a particular brand of beverage.
2. Description of the Related Art
Due to the increasing number of bars, pubs, and microbreweries marketing more and more beers to patrons, there has been a growing need for each beer brand's distributors to distinguish their product from all others. The number of beers now being offered at each location is not inconsequential and is often in the number of 100 or more at a single location. Obviously, even the beer products of the largest beer manufacturers can be lost amidst the myriad of small and large brews despite having spent hundreds of millions of dollars in advertisement costs.
Historically, beer distributors and manufacturers have relied on such things as branded neon signs, coasters, tap handles and other marketing techniques to highlight their product in a last ditch attempt to gain notice and ultimately—a sale. These are typically low-cost marketing items either sold at cost by the manufacturers or distributors or even given away as “freebies” so as to increase brand name recognition. These are also items that over time have become valuable to those who have an interest in bar-related collectibles.
One way in which manufacturers and distributors have marketed their products is through the use of tap handles. These are handles that usually have a male end that is placed onto a female portion of a tap spigot. Most all of the tap spigots are of the same size and shape so that any conforming tap handle is simply inserted into the tap so long as the tap end of the handle conforms to a standard tap mount. When the tap handle is pulled, a bar beverage is dispensed from the spigot portion of the tap. Each tap handle has some form of brand recognizing color, trademark, decoration, or shape so as to identify that particular brand of beverage. In this way, undecided patrons at the selling establishment are lured by the brand names on the tap handles to purchase the tap that is most pleasing to their eye.
There have been attempts to illuminate tap handles although they have been unsuccessful largely due to their cost of manufacture, the lack of mechanical simplicity, and lack of a portable power supply. (See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,414,446; 3,286,385; and 3,326,385)
The present invention better meets the marketing needs of the manufacturers, distributors, and establishment owners by providing a portable, inexpensive, and illuminated tap handle thereby making the illuminated brand more noticeable to the patron. This is an item that may be placed on any generic tap in any establishment, and manufactured at a very low cost using an inexpensive and readily available power source.